Man Fined for flying Drone Over Stadiums during UEFA and Premier League Matches

Drones have become a huge part of the mainstream, its hard to ignore them. There is Dronestagram, a community that is focused on drone photography. A social network of sorts, it displays photos and videos taken by drone hobbyists from around the world. It even has an iOS and Android app besides the dronestagr.am , whose styling of the website is loosely based on Instagram where you can comment and like a photo or video. Drones are unmanned flying aircraft operated by remote controls, and users do not require any special licenses to operate.

Increasingly, Drones are becoming a huge threat to air travel with multiple incidents from across the globe of near collisions between Drones and airplanes and this has necessitated the need for the regulation of the entire sector. Still, there are hobbyists out there, who continually ignore the consequences and operate them regardless. There have been numerous incidents lately including a near collision between a drone and a Lufthansa airplane in Warsaw.

In the most recent case, a man has been fined 1,800 Euros for flying a drone over professional football matches according to a report by BBC. The UK enacted laws on drones in 2009, that stipulate individuals operating unmanned aircraft are not to fly them over or within 50 meters of any congested area, over or within 150 meters of an organized open-air assembly of more than 1,000 people or within 50 meters of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the user’s control, unless they have obtained permission from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The man continually operated the drone during UEFA and Premier league matches despite receiving warnings that his actions threatened the safety of others. Among the matches included Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium, Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium, London and Liverpool v Ludogorets FC at Anfield stadium. The man was previously arrested twice and had his drone confiscated by authorities. The man used three drones to record the matches before uploading them on his YouTube channel.